BOSTON — Dylan Bundy prepared for this. Not intentionally, maybe, but it worked anyway.
"My last start in Fort Myers [during spring training], it was on a back field against minor leaguers," Bundy said. "It was at 11 a.m. So I'll be all ready to go."
Sure looked like it. Bundy, who debuted with five shutout innings against the Dodgers last week, tacked on four more before noon on Monday, before finally giving up his first run of the season. But the Twins struck for four runs by lunchtime and rolled to an 8-3 victory over the Red Sox on Patriots Day at Fenway Park.
Kyle Garlick's first hit of the season struck the top of Fenway's left-field wall, eventually ruled a home run that game the Twins a first-inning lead over their former teammate, Red Sox righthander Rich Hill. Twin innings later, Jorge Polanco followed Gilberto Celestino's first hit of the season, a sharp single to center, with a far more emphatic homer over the wall in left-center, staking the Twins to a four-run lead.
It was more than enough for Bundy, who utilized a fastball that never quite reached 91 mph and a slider clocked in the high 70s to keep the Red Sox off-balance and earn his second victory of the season. Working quickly, Bundy struck out six, didn't issue a walk, and faced only 13 hitters in the first four innings. A leadoff wall double by Alex Verdugo in the fifth inning broke the spell, and a Verdugo eventually scored on Christian Vazquez's ground out.
Two hits in the sixth knocked Bundy from the game, but Joe Smith prevented any runs from scoring, partly due to a smart play by Miguel Sano, who fielded a sharp ground ball and caught J.D. Martinez in a rundown between third base and home plate.
The Twins, who won for only the second time in a week and split the four-game series with Boston, tacked on four more runs in the eighth inning, mostly by not swinging. Red Sox reliever Kutter Crawford walked four Twins, threw a wild pitch and allowed a two-run single to Polanco, who had four RBI on the day, in the inning.
Monday's game, the Twins' first morning start since they shared the Metrodome with the Gophers football team in 2007, marked the second time they took part in the traditional marathon-day game in Boston. In 1976, they were shut out on five hits by Red Sox righthander and future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins.
The Twins head to Kansas City for a three-game series starting Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.
